October 31: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 460 people at the main hospital in el-Fasher days after seizing the city, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, describing the attack as one of the worst atrocities since the war began.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was “appalled and deeply shocked” by reports that RSF fighters stormed the Saudi Hospital, killing patients, their companions and medical staff. “All attacks on health care must stop immediately and unconditionally,” Tedros said, adding that all patients and health personnel must be protected under international humanitarian law.
The Sudan Doctors’ Network said the RSF “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the hospital,” turning medical facilities into “human slaughterhouses.” It also accused RSF forces of kidnapping six health workers – four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse – and demanding ransoms exceeding $150,000 for their release.
The assault came shortly after the RSF captured el-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region, following an 18-month siege marked by starvation and relentless bombardment. The RSF, backed by Arab militias, has been accused of targeting non-Arab ethnic groups during its campaign across Darfur, allegations it denies.
Local activist groups, including the el-Fasher Resistance Committee, confirmed the hospital attack and described a “horrifying silence” in the city afterward. A communications blackout has made it difficult to verify reports, but BBC Verify said it had analyzed videos appearing to show RSF fighters executing unarmed civilians in recent days.
Humanitarian organizations warn that the fall of el-Fasher has left about 250,000 civilians trapped, with little access to food, water or medical care. Some survivors who fled to Tawila, about 60 km west of the city, told the BBC they were beaten, looted and extorted for ransom during their escape.
“Some of those who were taken were later executed,” one man said, describing the journey as “filled with hunger, thirst and terror.”
Former top UN humanitarian official Jan Egeland called the situation “catastrophic,” saying Darfur has become “the worst place on Earth now” and “the biggest humanitarian emergency on Earth.”
Since the war began in April 2023, the WHO has verified 185 attacks on health care facilities across Sudan, resulting in 1,204 deaths.
The capture of el-Fasher effectively splits Sudan in two, with the RSF controlling most of Darfur and Kordofan, while the army holds the capital Khartoum and eastern regions along the Red Sea. The two forces were once allies, jointly seizing power in a 2021 coup, but later split over a plan to return to civilian rule.
